Originally Posted by
TravelinSperry
It's downtown SF/Union Sq/SOMA that are the rougher areas these days. SF is still one of the prettiest cities from a natural topography standpoint the USA has to offer. It also has incredible food, especially leaning Seafood & Asian since CA is closer to Asia. Staying at the Hotel Kabuki in Japantown gets you away from the rougher areas. And you can then use this as a base to see Redwoods, drink wine, drive the coast. You can rule out any large city by looking at its worst area, even NYC
union square was quite spiffy and free from homeless and loiterers in August (stayed at GH SF for a week). Much improved from August 2022.
if you go west/south a couple blocks (like Powell and market), it’s not nice. Walk east or north and it’s pleasant.